Senior Village – Such a bargain!
Stephanie Thomas
Recently Senior Village at SaddleBrooke received an emergency request for membership from a SaddleBrooke widower who just found out that he needed outpatient surgery and could not drive home after the procedure. The Village membership team responded quickly after meeting with him. He was enrolled within two days. The next step was to put out an email alert to the transportation team to find a driver. The transportation team worked just as fast and arranged two drivers, one to take him to the hospital and one to bring him home.
Another instance of personalized Village assistance is for an elderly member who uses a wheelchair, cannot drive, but still wants to attend lectures in SaddleBrooke. Both she and her wheelchair are transported to and from the activities. Senior Village drivers will also take members to performances at the DesertView Theatre or other community functions. Since mid-February our volunteers have driven 4600 miles helping our members live more independently.
While transportation is by far the most utilized of the Village services, the Helping Hands team takes care of small projects inside and outside of your home such as: hang pictures or mirrors, repair a drip in your line, lift heavy boxes, move patio furniture, fix a hinge or door knob, replace heater/refrigerator filters, flip bed mattresses, replace doorbells and many more small jobs.
We also install the Golder Ranch Fire District’s lockbox on your home’s exterior when you have already purchased the box. This device enables the fire department paramedics to enter your home via a secured key within the box, which prevents them breaking down your door if you call 911 and can’t get to your locked door.
For those of you who don’t get out of your home too often, the Friendly Contact team will respond to your requests for occasional social phone calls or a social visit to provide opportunities for you to enjoy conversations and interaction with others.
Thanks to generous donations, we were able to enroll members at no cost this year; however, it is now time to operate within a working budget. To meet our ongoing operating and administrative expenses of liability insurance, volunteer background checks, website access and office supplies, our steering committee has developed an annual working budget for 2017. Senior Village has set minimal annual membership dues of $48 for a single membership and $60 for a household, starting January 1, 2017. These dues will also help us expand our services and meet more of your needs.
Remember, your membership gives you access to all our services; no need to call an expensive taxi or enlist your neighbor’s help, no need to pay for a private driver to take you to the grocery store or doctor. We are “neighbors helping neighbors” and look forward to serving you. To become a member call 520-314-1042 and visit us at: http://www.seniorvillageatsaddlebrooke.org/index.html.